Two New Tools to Examine Media More Closely
If you’re like me, you consume a wide variety of news and news sources. You might even call yourself a news junkie. It’s part of the necessary and constant preparation to help your clients navigate their world. Let’s face it. Consuming a wide variety of news helps you to counsel clients thoughtfully
The news we need to analyze has become less reliable the last three years. Less reporters, less editors, less proofreading.. Stories are posted more quickly and more prone to mistakes. Frequent story updates muddle the messages. Some pieces may not undergo the rigorous fact-checking we once relied upon. Some are only proofread by bots. Journalism feels sloppier.
These factors make it harder than ever to analyze the quality of news sources. who has time to check each out and analyze the main point to get a sense of where a story is going and prepare potential responses?
It is time consuming and frankly, inefficient for counseling clients. I’m using two tools to examine news topics quickly and thoroughly.
Two Media Analysis Tools for Communicators
Ad Fontes Media
This organization has always rated media bias and reliability and updated it regularly (for years!). Their interactive chart identifies where a news program or organization falls along the political spectrum. See their media bias chart here.
Ad Fontes also has numerous media literacy tools for the classroom, but now they have developed media literacy tools for enterprise. Communicators can talk to their clients about expectations around media interactions.
An important feature (and one of my favorites) is that you can see the Ad Fontes methodology and peek inside how their analysts rate thousands of stories. Go back to the link above and navigate to the Methodology tab to take a deeper dive.
Their newsletter breaks down a news story each week and shares how it might skew politically right or left and what might be misleading or inaccurate about the reporting.
Ground News
This is a paid news aggregator that enables you to compare coverage across sites. For each story, Ground News cites the number of news sources covering it and rates the coverage by left, center and right. Subscribers can customize what they receive by location and by categories. There is a robust selection of categories and countries.
Click through to each story and get a detailed rundown on the main points, the type of coverage from each outlet and more.
Their daily newsletters are packed with features. One of my favorites is “Blindspot” which features a news story from the left and one from the right and why it’s not being covered more broadly. It’s very enlightening! A browser extension is available and can pop their analysis into whatever you’re reading.
Ground News reviews stories on three elements: bias, factuality and ownership. Their methodology is also available on their website; Ad Fontes is one of their sources.
I’ve been a subscriber for just two months and am still learning all about it. But it has helped tremendously in cutting through the time necessary to review emerging news stories.
Have you tried a news analysis tool? If you tried one of these two tools or know of others, I’d love to hear about your experience.